


to being an us for once, instead of a them

by interruptingsloth



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/F, i don't know why it happens on a tuesday it just does ok, i like to think harry's paint had glitter in it, main ship: social justice/the world, rated R for Radical Politics, spoiler: louis never finishes her video game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-20 14:39:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/888437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interruptingsloth/pseuds/interruptingsloth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry wants to change the world. Louis just wants to play FIFA.</p><p>(aka: an AU of the activist!1D AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	to being an us for once, instead of a them

**Author's Note:**

> So protest/activist AUs seem to be A Thing in One Direction fandom.  
> I wrote an alternative to those.  
> An AU of an AU, if you will.

It is the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday, and Harry is covered in poster paint. _Again_.

"Louis," she calls to her girlfriend, who's sprawled on the couch across the room. "Which sounds better -- 'animal rights, right now' or 'get your laws off our paws'?"

Louis pauses her video game to look over at Harry. The other girl's face is screwed up in concentration, tongue poking out the side of her mouth, and she's absently wiping paint off her cheek (but only smearing it more). Louis thinks she looks both adorable and ridiculous. "Uh, I dunno," she replies, resuming her game and turning back to the screen. "The second one?"

Harry nods slowly. "The paws one, then," she says. "Yeah. Yeah, that works." She dips her brush in bright purple paint and sets to work on the bristol board. "I still need a slogan for the abortion clinic rally today, though."

Eyes still on the TV, Louis leans to the side, mirroring the actions of her character on screen. (She swears it helps her play better.) "Didn't you just do that yesterday?"

"No, yesterday was the Monsanto protest." Harry pushes a mess of curls off her forehead, frowning when she almost tangles the paintbrush in her hair. "Remember?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah."

"But you're still coming this afternoon, right?"

Louis' player scores a goal, and she lets out a whoop before pausing the game and turning back around to look at Harry. "Do I seriously have to go?" she asks, resting her chin on the back of the couch. "I mean, I went to the one last week." She huffs out a breath. "It was _so_ boring."

"Lou," Harry says softly. "You know how important this is."

"You know I think it's great you want to, like, save the world or whatever, right? But can we do something else for a change? Something _fun_?"

"Protests are fun."

"No, they're not," Louis whines. "I can think of, like, a million things that are way more fun."

Harry puts her paintbrush down and crosses her arms. "What's more important than shutting down slaughterhouses and protecting our right to choose and encouraging sustainable environmental practices?"

"Uh." Louis pauses. "Okay, fine, those are totally important. But also, like, holding those signs really hurts my arms."

A small smile starts on Harry's face. "You don't have to hold a sign this time," she says. "I can get Liam or Zayn to do that. And I think Niall's skipping class to come too."

Louis groans and flops back dramatically on the couch. "But if _they're_ going, why do _we_ have to go?"

Harry walks over to the couch to look down at her girlfriend. _"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing_."

"What?"

"Well, good _women_ ," Harry amends. "Edmund Burke, 18th century Irish politician and philosopher."

"Then maybe you should protest sexist quotes."

Harry considers this for a second before realizing Louis is kidding. "Hey," she says, nose wrinkling. "I'm trying to be serious here."

Louis throws a pillow at her. "And I'm trying to play FIFA!"

Harry catches the pillow and tosses it back, hitting Louis squarely in the face. "Help! I'm injured!" Louis announces. "I can't make the protest! Go on without me! Save yourself!"

Harry giggles, and Louis pulls her down on the couch until she's on top of Louis. "I still need to finish my signs," Harry says, trying to wriggle free of Louis' grasp. "I don't wanna be late."

Louis fixes her girlfriend with a stare. "Harriet Styles," she says firmly, "you should be proud of me. I'm about to start an activist movement of my own."

Harry raises an eyebrow. "And that is...?"

"Anti-celibacy."

"You're ridiculous."

"On the contrary," Louis says, "I'm passionate. Inspired. This is a cause I care very much about." At Harry's amused expression, she adds, "I even have chants and everything. _'Occupy Louis' Bed'_. _'Out of the closets and into my pants!'_ " She waggles her eyebrows. "I'm particularly proud of _'get your paws on my bra'_."

Harry shakes her head, fighting back a smile. "That sounds like you're into bestiality." 

"Okay, gross, that is not what I meant and you know it." Louis pouts and fixes Harry's hair. "So are you goin _g_ to help me with this or not?"

"Well," Harry says, ducking down to kiss Louis. "I _did_ promise everyone we'd be there today."

"But Niall and Zayn and Liam are gonna be there," Louis points out. "And probably Danielle and Eleanor and Perrie and Leigh-Anne and Jesy and Jade and Aiden and Nick and-"

Harry shuts her up with a kiss. "Okay, I get it."

"Good. Because I was running out of names." Louis makes a face. "Also, we need new friends."

"Oh, do we?" Harry asks. She slots her knee in the middle of Louis' legs with deliberate casualness and shifts forward. "Then who'd take our places there this afternoon?"

Louis pretends that her response is based on hard logic and _not_ because of the delicious pressure between her thighs. "Fine," she manages. "They can stay."

Harry beams. "Thought so."

Louis rolls her eyes, and reaches up to kiss the smile off Harry's face. When they pull apart, Louis' fingers are tangled in Harry's curls and Harry is licking bitten-red lips.

"So," Harry says slowly (and her voice has dropped like six octaves, and Louis knows she's doing that on purpose, and that means Louis is definitely still winning), "what kind of _direct action_ does your protest require?"

Louis grins. "Well," she replies, sliding her fingers beneath the waistband of Harry's skinny jeans, "if I'm not holding a sign, I need _something_ to do with my hands."

"That was a terrible line," Harry says, but she's betrayed by her own breathy little gasp when Louis' fingers find _that_ spot.

"This is in the grand tradition of protests," Louis insists. "Isn't that what they said? 'Make love, not war'?"

Harry's groan turns into a moan, and that's the last thing Louis says for a while.

(They end up missing the protest that afternoon. And the one the next morning. Social justice is achieved anyways.)


End file.
